Legal recreational pot industry opens in Colorado

In Colorado, hundreds wait in line to purchase recreational marijuana

Employee David Marlow, right, helps a customer, who smells a strain of marijuana before buying it, at the crowded sales counter inside the Medicine Man retail store in Denver.

Employee David Marlow, right, helps a customer, who smells a strain of marijuana before buying it, at the crowded sales counter inside the Medicine Man retail store in Denver.

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

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Sean Azzariti, a former Marine who served in the Iraq and has post-traumatic stress disorder, makes a transaction at 3D Cannabis Center in Denver.

Sean Azzariti, a former Marine who served in the Iraq and has post-traumatic stress disorder, makes a transaction at 3D Cannabis Center in Denver.

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

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Employees help customers at the crowded sales counter inside Medicine Man marijuana retail store, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver on Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana sales on Jan. 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) less

Employees help customers at the crowded sales counter inside Medicine Man marijuana retail store, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver on Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail ... more

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

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DENVER, CO - JANUARY 01: Customers wait in line, which was more than 300 deep by 10 a.m., on the first day of retail marijuana sales at LoDo Wellness in Denver Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014. Customers can legally purchase marijuana for recreation use in Colorado. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, AAron Ontiveroz ) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO SALES; NEW YORK POST OUT; NEW YORK DAILY NEWS OUT less

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 01: Customers wait in line, which was more than 300 deep by 10 a.m., on the first day of retail marijuana sales at LoDo Wellness in Denver Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014. Customers can legally ... more

Photo: AAron Ontiveroz, MBR

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Employees help customers at the crowded sales counter inside Medicine Man marijuana retail store, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana sales on Jan. 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) less

Employees help customers at the crowded sales counter inside Medicine Man marijuana retail store, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail ... more

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

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Customers stand in line shortly after the opening of 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver at 8am on Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana sales on Jan. 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) less

Customers stand in line shortly after the opening of 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver at 8am on Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana sales on ... more

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

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A recreational marijuana menu and price list sits on a counter at 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver, early Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana sales on Jan. 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) less

A recreational marijuana menu and price list sits on a counter at 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver, early Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana ... more

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

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An employee weighs portions of retail marijuana to be packaged and sold at 3D Cannabis Center in Denver, Tuesday Dec. 31, 2013. Colorado is making final preparations for marijuana sales to begin Jan. 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) less

An employee weighs portions of retail marijuana to be packaged and sold at 3D Cannabis Center in Denver, Tuesday Dec. 31, 2013. Colorado is making final preparations for marijuana sales to begin Jan. 1, a day ... more

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

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Before opening for business, a private security guard watches the door at 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver, early Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana sales on Jan. 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) less

Before opening for business, a private security guard watches the door at 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver, early Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail ... more

Photo: Brennan Linsley, STF

Legal recreational pot industry opens in Colorado

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DENVER - They lined up before dawn and in the snow Wednesday, baby boomers from Nebraska, retirees from Denver and a young man who had driven all day from Ohio. Some were longtime marijuana users. Some had been arrested for marijuana possession.

They were among the hundreds of tourists and residents across Colorado who took part in the country's first-ever sales of state-regulated recreational marijuana. They walked into 40 shops, from downtown Denver to snowy ski resorts, flashed their identifications and, in a single transaction, took part in what supporters hailed as a historic departure from drug laws focused on punishment and prohibition.

"It makes you giddy to say it: I went into a store and bought pot," Linda Walmsley said as she walked out of the Denver Kush Club, where a line of shivering customers stretched down the block.

While about 20 states allow medical marijuana, voters in Colorado and Washington state decided last year to go one step further, becoming the first in the nation to legalize small amounts of the plant for recreational use and regulate it like alcohol. Colorado began promptly on New Year's Day.

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To supporters, it was a watershed moment in the country's tangled relationship with the drug. They said it was akin to the end of Prohibition, albeit with joints being passed instead of Champagne being uncorked.

To skeptics, it represented a grand folly that they predicted would tarnish the image of a state whose official song is John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" and lead to higher teenage drug use and more impaired driving. The governor and the Denver mayor both opposed legalization and stayed away from the celebrations and inaugural sales Wednesday.

Regulators said Colorado's first sales - on a day called Green Wednesday by enthusiasts - had gone smoothly. Security guards were stationed outside dispensaries, and police officers and state officials watched closely.

Skeptical federal authorities are also paying attention. Although marijuana remains illegal under federal law, the Justice Department has given tentative approval for Colorado and Washington to move ahead with regulating marijuana. But it warned that federal officials could intervene if the state regulations failed to keep the drug away from children, drug cartels or federal property, and out of other states.

On Wednesday, Colorado had eight investigators out checking retailers' licenses, inspecting packaging and labeling, and ensuring that stores reviewed customers' identification to see if they were 21 or older, said Ron Kammerzell, the director of enforcement for Colorado's Department of Revenue. "So far, so good," he said.

Racing to write rules

Ever since voters in Colorado and Washington approved recreational marijuana last year, the states have been racing to devise rules on how to grow, sell, tax and track it.

In both Colorado and Washington, recreational marijuana has been legal for more than a year. Adults can smoke it in their living rooms and eat marijuana-laced cookies without fear of arrest. In Colorado, they are even allowed to grow up to six plants at home. But until Wednesday, marijuana dispensaries could sell only to customers with a doctor's recommendation and a state-issued medical marijuana card.

Many people who lined up Wednesday said they did not have medical cards, and had relied on drug dealers or friends with medical marijuana to satisfy their cravings. They were paying high prices for new recreational marijuana - $50 to $60 for an eighth of an ounce, nearly double the price of medical marijuana - but said it was worthwhile to avoid the risk.

"People don't like breaking the law," said Andy Williams, who runs the Medicine Man dispensary in Denver. "The burden has been taken off them."

Now, any Colorado resident who is at least 21 can buy up to an ounce of marijuana at one of the dispensaries that began selling to retail customers on Wednesday. Out-of-state visitors can buy a quarter-ounce, but they have to consume it here.

On Wednesday, some tourists puzzled over where they would consume their purchases. It is illegal to smoke marijuana in public, in public parks or in campgrounds, and it is against the rules at many hotels. One group from Nebraska said it would find a parking lot and roll up the car windows. Others said they would return to their hotels and open the windows. Some bought marijuana-laced baked goods to avoid the problem altogether.

Marijuana vacation

Kirstin Knouse, 24, flew here from Chicago with her husband, Tristan, to take her first marijuana vacation. She said the couple would smoke their marijuana at the home of a cousin. She said she suffered from seizures and fibromyalgia, and her husband from post-traumatic stress, but that they had not been able to get medical marijuana at home. When Colorado opened sales to out-of-state residents, she said, they leapt at the chance.

Washington's marijuana system is at least several months behind Colorado's, meaning stocked retail shelves probably will not be a reality until perhaps June.

While Colorado has incorporated the existing medical marijuana system, Washington is starting from scratch, with all production and sale of legal recreational marijuana linked to a new system of licenses, which will not be issued until late February or early March.

"After that, it is up to the industry to get it up and running," said Mikhail Carpenter, a spokesman for the Washington State Liquor Control Board, which regulates the system and is reviewing almost 5,000 license applications to grow, process or sell marijuana.